- The "third" drummer of Devo. Alan joined Devo in 1976 soon after Jim Mothersbaugh left the band. Alan left Devo about a decade later during the beginning of the writing for Total DEVO. Alan's recorded work with DEVO has influenced many musicians. [1]
- From the sketchy information given by Mark and Jerry it can be interpreted as bias because they did not feel Alan should be angered by the increasing use of a drum machine or electronic drums. Jerry gives the interpretation that Alan turned on Devo, Mark claims Alan gave up on Devo. Bob 1 and Bob 2 give the sense that Jerry's cocaine use put Alan over the edge. Bob 1 says Alan very much wanted to stay in Devo and that neither Mark nor Jerry made an attempt to bring Alan back into the band to complete Total DEVO.
- Post-Devo Alan earned a living as a licensed electrical contractor and continued to play drums in weekend performances, first drumming for his wife's project, "Babooshka." Alan started the band "Skyline Electric " in 2005 which plays in the Los Angeles area. Also since 2005, Alan played drums live for "Jean Paul Yamamoto." Alan (in association with his daughter) performed live for "Swahili Blonde."
- Myers died of cancer at age 58 on June 24, 2013. a b c Guest Book
- Skyline Electric played a tribute concert on Friday, June 28, 2013 at Human Resources gallery in Los Angeles.
Equipment[]
DEVO moved from Jim's electronic drums to Alan's acoustic drums. Jerry said Alan was the best drummer Devo ever had.
- Then over the years Alan's acoustic drums were phased out. Recordings would feature the artificial sound of programmed drum patterns on sequencers, electronic drum synthesizers, percussion samples, and drum machines. Jim, in a support role, would help program sequencers and be a Roland Corp. liaison, providing Devo access to state-of-the-art equipment.
- By the time of the oh, no! it's DEVO tour, Alan played electronic drum pads to a click track, then switched to acoustic drums for the older songs in the second half of the set.
studio / live Gretsch Drums, Yamaha Drums, Synare 3, Linn LM-1, Fairlight CMI
- 1976 - Percussion Drums
- 1977 - Percussion Drums
- 1978 - Percussion Drums
- 1979 - Synare Electronic Drum Synthesizer, Percussion Drums
- 1980 - Synare Electronic Drums, Percussion Drums
- 1981 - Synare Electronic Drums, Percussion Drums
- New Traditionalists had acoustic drums and sequenced, synthesized drums and percussion.[2]
- Sequencer lines were programmed by Jim for Mark. "Bob" and Alan also programmed sequencers.[3]
- A Linn LM-1 drum computer was used on some New Traditionalists tracks, such as "The Super Thing," which had its drum track reused on "Watch Us Work It"
- A LinnDrum (LM-2) was also used. [4]
- Vox drumbox [5]
- 1982 - Linn Electronic Drum Machine, Percussion Drums
- Oh, No! It's DEVO used a "click track" so songs could be linked with projected visuals in concert. Synthesized percussion was used even more on this album. The song "Patterns" has its drum almost entirely presequenced.
- Linn syndrums
- LM1
- LM2 - used on at least "Explosions."
- 1984 - No Drums Used
- Shout had its percussion programmed by Mark and Alan.
- If DEVO had a "Shout" tour, Alan would probably have played the new songs on the Synare drum pads and the older songs on his regular percussion drum set, as was done on the "Oh No" Tour.
- (Alan's contributions to "Total DEVO" are uncredited.)
- Post 1986 - Percussion, Drums
- Regular drum set and cymbals, also used tabula and other percussion
References[]
- ↑ DangerousMinds.net. (2013-7-7)."Give The Drummer Some: Drummers appreciate DEVO’s man machine Alan Meyers" (sic). Posted by Bruce McDonald.
- ↑ Google Books. "In Cold Sweat: Interviews with Really Scary Musicians by Thomas Wictor. (2001). page 156. "...by the time 1981 rolled around, we were playing a lot of sequencer lines..."-Jerry.
- ↑ Google Books. 'Keyboard Presents the Best of the '80s: The Artists, Instruments, and Techniques of an Era". Edited by Ernie Rideout, Stephen Fortner, and Michael Gallant. (2008). page 33. "Are they not keyboardists? Mark Mothersbaugh and Bob Casale devolve" by Michael Davis (August 1981. Keyboard Magazine article). "...we'll also take a sequencer pattern that Bob put together, and play it with a sequencer pattern that Alan [Devo drummer Alan Myers] wrote, and lyrics that Jerry wrote, and then borrow other parts from other people. There's no set pattern to how our songs come out.".-Mark.
- ↑ "Subject: Devo's Synths". machines.hyperreal.org/gearlists/devo-gear. (Linn) LM-1 drum machine: New Traditionalists, Oh, No! It's Devo!, Shout (Linn) LinnDrum drum machine: New Traditionalists, Oh, No! It's Devo!,Shout.
- ↑ http://machines.hyperreal.org/gearlists/devo-gear "(Vox) drumbox: New Traditionalists".
External Links[]
- Alan Myers Artist - Discography -- Discogs
- Alan Myers Person - Overview -- MusicBrainz
- Alan Myers Credits -- AllMusic
- Alan Myers (I) (1955–2013) b Filmography -- IMDb
- Alan Myers (drummer) -- Wikipedia article